MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - The NC State swimming & diving team concluded the final day of action on Saturday of its two-day dual meet against the University of Minnesota. The 21st-ranked men's squad was defeated by the 14th-ranked Golden Gophers, 192-159, while the Wolfpack women's team fell to No. 13 Minnesota, 190-156.

"It was definitely a hard fought battle today against a very strong opponent in Minnesota," said head coach Braden Holloway. "I am proud of our group. We came in with a smaller travel squad and went toe-to-toe with a really good team."

NC State's women's team now owns a record of 6-3 for the season, while the men's squad falls to 4-4. Minnesota improves to 6-1 on the men's side and its women's team remains undefeated at 7-0.

Throughout the weekend, the Wolfpack captured five of eight relay events and combined to win nine individual titles.

"We had more of a team effort today," Holloway said. "We have progressively gotten better this season and I think today was another step forward. Overall, it was our best performance as a team. Obviously, it hurts coming out with a loss, but we'll learn from this."

Senior Kelsey Liu posted the first individual victory of the day for the Wolfpack women's squad in the 400 IM, as the North Potomac, Md., native finished with a time of 4:23.02.

In the 200 backstroke, Zevnik and Kaitlin Mills finished first and second, respectively. Zevnik cruised to a first place finish in a time of 1:59.52, while Mills followed in second with a time of 2:02.34.

On the men's side, State recorded a one-two finish in the 100 freestyle, as Boffa tapped the wall first in 43.95 and David Williams followed in second in a time of 44.42.

"We have some fine tuning that we need to do," Holloway said. We're still a little sloppy in a few areas that we need to execute better."

In diving, freshman Grant Saale finished the three-meter competition with a season-best score of 305.85.

"Grant [Saale], the only diver to travel with us, represented the men's team well," Holloway said. "He performed a dive that he had not previously done in competition and that went well."

Up next, the Pack will make the short trip to Chapel Hill, to take on North Carolina on Friday, Jan. 31 at 5 p.m.